Today being the International Women's Day, one can safely conclude that Tamil cinema has among all its competitors in the country has celebrated woman hood in all its glory right from its beginings.  During the 1930s and the 40s when mythical subjects were handled most men and women had equal importance in the story and scale always tilted towards the fairer sex. K.P Sundarambaal became the first artiste in India to command 1lakh rupees salary for 'Avvaiyaar' and was also the first female member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.  As early as 1938, the M.S. Subbulakshmi starrer 'Sevasadanam' handled the touchy subject of young girls getting married off to old men and exposed their suffering.

The 1950s ushered in the superstar era or Sivaji and MGR, but women still held center stage like Pandaribai's character in 'Andha Naal' opposite Sivaji, V.N. Janaki in 'Mandhiri Kumari' opposite MGR.  The social dramas were dominant and the woman was the pivot.

The 1970s and 80s belonged to K. Balachander who made 100 films and every single one of them had on and in most cases many strong women.  When Bharathiraja took over at the end of the same period he too more often than not set the screenplay revolving around the fairer sex.

The 1990s and 2000s were dominated by the heroes and sadly the leading ladies were reduced to merely dancing around the trees or wait for their lovers to rescue them from the villains clutches.  The rare exceptions were 'Magalir Mattum', 'Chandramukhi' and a few others.

The modern era is witnessing another surge of woman power exhibited in films like 'Mozhi', 'Abhiyum Naanum', 'Kuttram Kadithal',  'Iraivi', 'Irudhi Suttru', 'Oru Naal Koothu', 'Taramani', 'Aramm' and 'Aruvi' among others. There are many more to come from the young brigade leaving one to conclude that the woman is safer in Tamil cinema's hands than elsewhere.